Hughes to be sworn in today

PALMER — After receiving the unanimous endorsement of her Republican state House colleagues in a phone poll on May 4, Rep. Shelley Hughes of Palmer will be sworn in officially at 12:15 p.m., today at the Legislative Information Office in Wasilla.

Hughes was selected from a short list of candidates — the list also included Marvin Yoder and David Eastman — to replace Carl Gatto, who died April 10, at the tail end of this year’s legislative session.

Gov. Sean Parnell announced May 1 he had picked Hughes, saying she stood out among the nominees and, that he believed, she would be able to hit the ground running.

Hughes is a former aide to Gatto and had already declared her intent to run for his seat when the five-term legislator died.

In the party primary at the end of the summer she will square off against another friend of Gatto’s, Daniel Hamm, when a new person is elected to serve District 13 in the House.